Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Current Room Tour {Our Music Room - The First House Edition}

I often mention projects + work that we have done around our first purchased home. We've been busy bees over the past few seasons - sanding, remodeling, laying new flooring, clearing clutter and organizing  spaces... I decided that sharing what rooms currently look like might be a fun way to share spaces in our home.


We live in a four bedroom home. As we don't have four people living in our home we decided to dedicate our extra bedrooms for various purposes that we love. We have a study, a studio space and a music room.




I love how our music room is shaping up! I mean... chevron wall...



I love that my husband painted that wall just because we decided it would be fun. And when I asked how I could help him he only requested for me to go make cookies. Yes, I knew that was my cue to get out of the way.




Happy Wednesday, friends!


*this particular series on my blog is to show what rooms currently look like in our house... as in using my iPhone to quickly snap a few photos of a mostly {HOPEFULLY!} clean but probably in-progress room.


Monday, September 28, 2015

around these parts {back to school edition}



okay, so we've been back to school for about a month. it has been a good month.

a few weeks of getting to know new classmates and routines.




feeling out those boundaries and limits. making friends and enjoying time with old pals.





finding moments for togetherness and fall fresh air. it is a great time of year. 

happy monday to you. 




Monday, September 21, 2015

around these parts {+ on my bookshelf}

well, i've got a few books to recommend today...




i recently read...

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman and really enjoyed it. there were several chapters that had me teary-eyed and two afternoons where i couldn't put the book down.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and man i got sucked in! just after a few chapters i was hooked into the story and wanting to learn more about the characters.





i've been requesting books from a few "books you just can't put down" lists {like this one from buzzfeed + this one from Modern Mrs. Darcy} and other titles at the library that just look entertaining or inspiring. where do you find titles that you plan to read?

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Local Love {HOMAGE - Ohio}

so folks, i'm pretty excited about a recent tee purchase. that's right - i splurged on a long sleeve columbus crew tee. it comes from the ohio clothing company 'homage' a cool company making quality, interesting clothing for all types of fans.



i can't wait to wear this to the next soccer game i head to columbus for... oh and i think my next purchase is going to be the Saved by the Bell tshirt. Yes, definitely, yes.



If you are shopping for something fun check out their store locations {two in Columbus and one store in Cincinnati}. Three stores with a four location coming soon!


::Please note that this post is entirely of my thoughts. I did not receive any gifts or any prompting to promote this specific product or brand. This blog series is to celebrate the great products that are made in my home state of Ohio. The photos on this post are mine. ::

Monday, September 14, 2015

how i prep breakfast + lunch to last the week


that's right y'all. i'm getting back into the swing of the school year and that means i'm cooking with all the burners on sundays. this helps me keep from eating out or running out of meals to serve during a quick moving work week.

i thought it might be fun to share how i plan many meals, prepare and store them so they are easy to gather up for lunches or to eat at home.

often i try to plan one basic breakfast for monday thru friday. if i don't make enough for the week we often end up with eggs and sweet potatoes or oatmeal on friday. and we are okay with that.

this week i decided to use up some bacon from the freezer and make a breakfast salad. by prepping + storing the bacon, egg salad and clean, chopped kale salad separately all i need to do each morning is put the pieces together in one bowl. i made a double batch and hoped that it would be plenty for the week! so on the weekday mornings i will just make a layer of kale, scoop some egg salad and crumble bacon over top of the whole thing. we will might drizzle a little balsamic if we feel it needs something else. i put together the salads while my husband makes the coffee and we eat in our quiet kitchen after we are dressed and pretty much ready to leave the house.

i store these foods separately as it seems to keep them fresher. a bonus is that it is also more flexible that way. for example if we decide on wednesday to have toast and egg salad we are able to change the meal that tiny bit very easily.

as for lunches - once again i try to plan for one basic lunch and then if we have dinner left overs we also serve those for lunches too. we find that if the main course is something simple and filling we don't mind eating the same lunch all week.

i planned grilled chicken + egg over salad for lunch. with a few sides like whole apples, roasted nuts, watermelon and a lara bar for if we get extra hungry {i often eat a snack at the start of my walk home so i'm not starving when i walk into the front door of our house}. i prep the romaine and other greens {wash, let dry a bit, chop} and other veggies i have on hand {carrots, peppers, cucumbers, radishes - etc.} and put all those prepped vegetables in one bowl to store in the fridge. my husband will often grill several chicken breasts while i make the hardboiled eggs. i slice up the chicken once it is cooked and store in one container. the hardboiled eggs go in a separate container. we assemble the salads either the night before {and add the egg in the morning or pack it separately and add it at lunch time}. we typically mix several dressing servings {think the tiniest mason jars known to man} for the week and put one in our lunch boxes the night before.

we also do this prep in advance with the other side dishes - i chop watermelon and place servings in small glass containers {sometimes other mason jars} so we can just pull them straight from the fridge when we are about to leave for work. i make several small containers of roasted almonds + cashews. and we typically have apples and lara bars in a big fruit bowl on our kitchen table. everything is ready to go - all we have to do is put it in the lunchbox the night before we go to bed {room temperature items like the nuts, apples, lara bars} or the morning on our way out the door {cold temperature foods like the salads + watermelon}.

okay, breakfasts and lunches are ready... i think we are good for this week!

happy monday!




** the recipes i used are linked to their original source - just click on the foods listed.



Wednesday, September 9, 2015

a little mugswapping




good morning! if you've been clicking through my instagram recently you might have noticed that i participated in this year's mugswap hosted by cuppakim! {thanks Kim for your hosting awesomeness and for making sure everyone had the opportunity to give joy to someone else!}

this was my second year joining the mugswappin' goodness. and this year i felt moved to say a few words about the experience. 


i really super-enjoyed my mugswap experiences. lots of people love mugs and lots of those people love coffee or tea. so already we're off to something great, right? but the really cool thing is that the mugswap is all based on the idea of surprising and giving to someone else. the best and biggest surprise is for the family who gets the donated dollars toward their upcoming adoptions. but of course you get to surprise your mugswap buddy too!


so both years i had a great time pulling together a little coffee themed care package for a momma living in a different state. my first year i surprised a great gal from Texas! and this year my mugswap partner resides in Michigan! just by sharing a little gift, a virtual mug of coffee (if you will), a couple personal touches, and a handwritten note makes for fast IG friends. happy mail day for the win!




so if next August swings around and you are looking for a fun way to send around some cheerfulness check out cuppakim's IG for when you can sign up and get in on the fun! if all goes well i think i might be up for a third year!

happy muggin' ;)




Monday, September 7, 2015

Happy Labor Day!

hey there friends! 

hope you are off spending a relaxing day with loved ones!

happy labor day!






Wednesday, September 2, 2015

happy september

oh september...i do love my summer time but i'm pretty glad you are here!

this week i'm happily saying 'hello' to my students, establishing our daily rhythm and declaring plans and goals of what we hope to learn and adventures we plan to take this year as a class.



i am looking forward to some fall season fun in the weeks to come. what are you planning up for the ever quickly approaching fall season? that's right little leaves.... we've noticed you are already starting to change!